Who uses the Red Box anyway??

So back in Benton, there were a group of stay-at-home moms who would meet at the local McDonalds on Thursday so that we could visit and our kids could play.

One such day not too long ago, we were discussing the McDonalds Red Box. Another friend said, "Does anybody really use that to rent movies?" And such began a vivid discussion of how great everyone who had used it thought it was. They told us about how they will often wait in line at the Red Box to rent or return a movie. A couple of us agreed we'd never seen a line or even thought about renting a movie at McDonalds. End of discussion and I didn't think much about it again until Monday.

Monday was a great day behavior-wise in our house. I normally do the afternoon "pop run" as the pop guy seems to respond a little better to me at this point than he does to Lowell. However, our supervisor was there and we were going over some documentation and paperwork stuff. Since we were having a good day, we thought Lowell would have no problems, and we sent him on his way.

About 20 minutes later, I received a text message that said, "Come to McDonalds before I get beat up." A little confused about how the drive to the local gas station for a pop ended up at McDonalds but realizing that now wasn't the time to question, we headed out. When we arrived, things were apparently a little bit calmer, but escalated fairly quickly. Lowell explained that when he was about to turn into the Presto station, he was informed that McDonalds would be preferred. After the last Presto episode, Lowell didn't argue (mainly for fear of losing the recently installed rearview mirror). Things were okay at McDonalds until the burger, fries, and coke that had just been consumed were no longer what was desired. What we wanted now is our money back. We all tried to explain that he had eaten the food and the nice people at McDonalds weren't inclined to give a full refund after the food has been eaten. Well that was not an acceptable response.

At this point, the yelling and screaming and hitting began. We all got out of his way, while still trying to keep him, us, and the other patrons safe. The first thing that was thrown across the restaurant was the bottle of cleaning solution. (And it probably shouldn't be just sitting out on top of the trash cans anyway should it???) The next thing to catch our attention was the Red Box. I guess it looked like it needed a good beating. And it got one. However, the crazy thing (besides the guy beating the Red Box) was that people kept coming in and returning movies. It was shocking to me that someone can be ripping pictures off of the wall, screaming, throwing things, and beating the movie rental box, and people continue to rent and return. Come on people, try Netflix, shipped right to your home with no danger of getting beat up!!!

Anyway, I guess the question about who uses the Red Box was answered for me on Monday - a few of my friends in Benton and at least half the population in the town of Lawrence! At least it seemed like that at the time.